Electronic time and billing and/or cost systems have evolved from the traditional time log manually recorded on blank sheets of paper or on pre-formatted paper forms. Such systems have been in a constant state of flux and evolution since the introduction of computer technology into the professional working environment.
Today, virtually one hundred percent of the documents that are generated and stored in professional offices are computer generated. The need for a realtime computer generated time and billing system for the individual professional is thus essential in today's working environment. This is particularly true for attorneys and other service-related professionals who bill clients based on an hourly rate for time spent on a particular matter where hourly rates vary for each professional, and thus, it is essential to record and bill each professional's time on an individual basis.
Moreover, in an increasingly cost conscious environment, clients have justifiably mandated strict guidelines and specific support for all time billed down to the minute. This has increased the burden on professionals such as attorneys to keep a running track record of every hour, every minute, of their billable time and to provide adequate justification for such billable time on a daily basis. Many attorneys and other billing professionals do not record time expended for rendering professional services contemporaneous with the task or service performed. This results in time being lost and never billed due to the inability to remember the task performed or the amount of time spent for performing the task. The absence of a computer system which monitors billable time for every document generated and/or task undertaken during the course of a given day contemporaneous with the service being performed has proven to be an insurmountable burden for many professionals who have a difficult time administratively logging their time on a daily basis.
Unfortunately, while there have been numerous attempts to improve existing time and billing systems, none have addressed the need for a timekeeping tracking computer system, method and apparatus on a document-by-document, task-by-task, realtime basis for the purpose of generating a daily billing report for an individual service-related professional. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,991,742, entitled “Time and Expense Logging System”, is directed to a portable time and billing system for professionals who are constantly on their feet, do not have access to desktop or notebook computers and may not have typing skills or familiarity with operating a computer. The '742 patent is directed to a computer system which accepts data from the user using an input recognizer such as a handwriting recognizer or speech recognizer.
Other computer systems are directed to overall billkeeping or litigation management or cost budgeting. U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,128, entitled “Internet-based attorney-client billing system” is directed to an Internet-based billkeeping and litigation management system, allowing third parties to monitor the progress and expense of litigation and/or possibly other legal matters.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 20030225989, entitled “System for calculating billable time” is directed to a timing system for tracking the time spent on a client file for cost budget purposes. The timing system does not address the tracking of billable time for an individual professional on a document-by-document, task-by-task, realtime basis for the purpose of generating a daily billing report for that individual professional. The timing system also is not directed to monitoring each newly generated document, whether Internet-based or LAN based, or task of an individual professional on a daily basis.